The Central Bank of Uzbekistan will hold a mid-September roundtable with international asset managers including Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and JP Morgan to explore investment options for its FX reserves. Official data show reserves fell from $66.3bn at the start of the year to $64.3bn in July, with gold comprising 87% of holdings; the World Gold Council says Uzbekistan net bought 41 tonnes of gold in 1H, the second-largest global buyer. The central bank said gold has been its best-performing holdi

Iran's deputy foreign minister Gharibabadi said adversaries should know Iran is fully prepared for any eventuality. He added that if adversaries return to the agreement and honor their commitments, Iran will respond accordingly.

The Financial Times says Treasury Secretary Bessent's recent, unexpected intervention in the US Treasury market — an operation that briefly pushed yields lower before they rose — runs counter to the Fed's anti-inflation push. The episode raised market scrutiny ahead of Fed official Wash's Jackson Hole speech; Wash has urged investors to rely on economic data and market prices rather than central-bank forward guidance. Market participants warn that if Bessent's effort to control yields proves ineffective, pressure could build for Fed market intervention. Bessent and Wash are both protégés of Stanley Druckenmiller and remain on good terms, but markets now view Treasury and the Fed as moving in opposite directions.